Okay will do. I'll see if I can go pick these things up this weekend at the latest, hopefully tomorrow or Friday. Where can I put the biomax piece, though? It's pretty cramped in that filter as is, what's already in there had to be packed in.
Ammonia in 10gal, small BGK and eel.
- Thread starter Dez
- Start date
They need to be somewhere with good water flow so they get exposed to lots of moving water. If you cant make room in your filters, you can put them in the tank in an aquarium safe mesh bag in an area that has good flow. Not ideal but it is better than not having them. If you have carbon packs in your HOB filter you can probably remove those for the time being. They filter out debris by blocking and chemicals via absorption from your tank through. You shouldnt have any chemicals in your tank right now and with the regular water changes you will be doing debris shouldnt be an issue right away either
If you're doing daily water changes anyway, you can always remove the filter cartridge from the HOB and stuff whatever you'd like in there. Just make sure to shake out whatever you do put in that filter in the old tank water (or dechlorinated tap water) and vacuum the bottom decently every other day or so.
I think the gravely-white stuff you're thinking of is Zeolite. Supposed to lower ammonia and nitrites, though I don't know how. If you're considering that, I would instead recommend a product called "Bio-Chem Zorb" which is zeolite mixed with charcoal. The zeolite does its thing while the charcoal does its own. Or you can just mix your own charcoal and zeolite into a mesh bag. It's probably cheaper that way.
EDIT: on second thought, I tend to make my own filter materials as a cost-saving way of keeping my wife off my back. If you eliminate the filter cartridge altogether, get some batting (blanket filler material) from you local fabric store and just wrap a small bit around the intake tube of the HOB filter with some string/rubber bands/elastic, and then fill the body of the hob with whatever bio/chemical material you decide upon.
I think the gravely-white stuff you're thinking of is Zeolite. Supposed to lower ammonia and nitrites, though I don't know how. If you're considering that, I would instead recommend a product called "Bio-Chem Zorb" which is zeolite mixed with charcoal. The zeolite does its thing while the charcoal does its own. Or you can just mix your own charcoal and zeolite into a mesh bag. It's probably cheaper that way.
EDIT: on second thought, I tend to make my own filter materials as a cost-saving way of keeping my wife off my back. If you eliminate the filter cartridge altogether, get some batting (blanket filler material) from you local fabric store and just wrap a small bit around the intake tube of the HOB filter with some string/rubber bands/elastic, and then fill the body of the hob with whatever bio/chemical material you decide upon.
carbon is not necessary to run in your tank on a regular basis, i keep some around to remove medication if need be or if have concern for toxins in my water. truth be told i haven't had to use it in years. while carbon helps remove toxins from the water it also removes minerals as well. Its really a personal call, i know people who swear by it to this day and others like me that haven't used it in years.
But you do need to make sure your nitrifying bacteria have ample room to grow so your ammonia/nitrites do not kill your fish, and build a solid foundation for a healthy tank. both your fish are susceptible to infection with ammonia concentrates and nitrites.
also do not cut back on feeding them, both fish are young and need large amounts of food for their sizes to develop properly and easily starve to death when young. this is one of the first recommendations usually when water quality is compromised. and works well with hearty species. a strong well fed fish is going to have a better shot at making it threw stress then a emaciated thin one. but be careful not to overfeed. to avoid this feed small amounts more often rather then one large meal.
Both these species are also finicky eaters on occasion so make sure they are actually eating, if flakes/pellets are not working try frozen bloodworms or live blackworms if available to you.
Not trying to further confuse or worry you just trying to help you be prepared for as much as possible. Hopefully we will get a positive update
But you do need to make sure your nitrifying bacteria have ample room to grow so your ammonia/nitrites do not kill your fish, and build a solid foundation for a healthy tank. both your fish are susceptible to infection with ammonia concentrates and nitrites.
also do not cut back on feeding them, both fish are young and need large amounts of food for their sizes to develop properly and easily starve to death when young. this is one of the first recommendations usually when water quality is compromised. and works well with hearty species. a strong well fed fish is going to have a better shot at making it threw stress then a emaciated thin one. but be careful not to overfeed. to avoid this feed small amounts more often rather then one large meal.
Both these species are also finicky eaters on occasion so make sure they are actually eating, if flakes/pellets are not working try frozen bloodworms or live blackworms if available to you.
Not trying to further confuse or worry you just trying to help you be prepared for as much as possible. Hopefully we will get a positive update
No worries MonsterMinis, I appreciate any and all advice since I'm still learning how to keep a healthy tank as I go.
Also, I'm an idiot! I didn't even think about it til this morning but I can just get some gravel from the 60gal tank at work that's to be mine eventually. There is a large pleco and an auratus cichlid in there, is it still okay for me to take some? Just want to make sure. If so I'll put a bit in some mesh and stuff it into the filter when I go home for lunch.
Not sure if the eel is eating, or at least not when I'm looking, but my BGK seems to be a good eater and likes both pellets and bloodworms, how often should I be feeding him? He doesn't appear to be too stressed out and is presently hanging around in the little glass jar I put in the tank. Hopefully these are good signs. I have left some water out since earlier this morning and will do a small water change as soon as I'm done posting here.
Jrthor: I have some mesh rubber-band-wrapped around the intake tube already but that's just to keep my remaining eel from going up there like the other one did. Not sure if that's what you meant but I figured I'd mention it. I assume Bio-chem Zorb is some kind of liquid?
Also just for everyone's reference, in case it's relevant, the conditioner I'm using is Prime, seachem. I hadn't realized it at the time but it's for larger tanks, one capfull being for 50gal. Of course since my tank is a 10gal I use only a tiny bit, like 1/5th of the cap when I do water changes, but could this be harmful at all? It says it removes ammonia but apparently not, and I also read somewhere that the Tetra SafeStart shouldn't be used with anything that claims to remove ammonia so now I'm wondering if that stuff will even do any good considering what conditioner I use.
Also, I'm an idiot! I didn't even think about it til this morning but I can just get some gravel from the 60gal tank at work that's to be mine eventually. There is a large pleco and an auratus cichlid in there, is it still okay for me to take some? Just want to make sure. If so I'll put a bit in some mesh and stuff it into the filter when I go home for lunch.
Not sure if the eel is eating, or at least not when I'm looking, but my BGK seems to be a good eater and likes both pellets and bloodworms, how often should I be feeding him? He doesn't appear to be too stressed out and is presently hanging around in the little glass jar I put in the tank. Hopefully these are good signs. I have left some water out since earlier this morning and will do a small water change as soon as I'm done posting here.
Jrthor: I have some mesh rubber-band-wrapped around the intake tube already but that's just to keep my remaining eel from going up there like the other one did. Not sure if that's what you meant but I figured I'd mention it. I assume Bio-chem Zorb is some kind of liquid?
Also just for everyone's reference, in case it's relevant, the conditioner I'm using is Prime, seachem. I hadn't realized it at the time but it's for larger tanks, one capfull being for 50gal. Of course since my tank is a 10gal I use only a tiny bit, like 1/5th of the cap when I do water changes, but could this be harmful at all? It says it removes ammonia but apparently not, and I also read somewhere that the Tetra SafeStart shouldn't be used with anything that claims to remove ammonia so now I'm wondering if that stuff will even do any good considering what conditioner I use.
Prime is Primo. I have no idea if I use too much or too little, but I use 15 drops/5 gallon bucket when doing water change on my 20 or 55, and 1 cap for 50 gals on the 125 that I refill with a hose.
The batting around the intake is just an option if you want to remove the filter cartridge altogether. having more space in your HOB gives you more flexibility in what biological or chemical media you use much like a canister filter, except you have to service the mechanical portion (the batting) much more often.
BioChem Zorb is a granular mixture of charcoal and zeolite. As MonsterMinis said, charcoal's purpose is to remove toxins from the water, and the charcoal can become saturated with toxins to where it doesn't remove any anymore which is why we replace it every few weeks. As most HOB filter cartridges contain charcoal already, I simply assumed you'd still want it in your system. The ammonia/nitrite removing feature of Zeolite is what you'd be after more, I'd think.
The batting around the intake is just an option if you want to remove the filter cartridge altogether. having more space in your HOB gives you more flexibility in what biological or chemical media you use much like a canister filter, except you have to service the mechanical portion (the batting) much more often.
BioChem Zorb is a granular mixture of charcoal and zeolite. As MonsterMinis said, charcoal's purpose is to remove toxins from the water, and the charcoal can become saturated with toxins to where it doesn't remove any anymore which is why we replace it every few weeks. As most HOB filter cartridges contain charcoal already, I simply assumed you'd still want it in your system. The ammonia/nitrite removing feature of Zeolite is what you'd be after more, I'd think.
Well the filter I use doesn't have 'cartridges' exactly, it's just stacking of things in a slot. So there's the first sponge, a second one that's blue and much more porous, and then the carbon pack. What I'm getting from all the advice here is I should do away with the carbon pack and replace it with that Biomax bag to help facilitate a better breeding ground for good bacteria, and/or get some gravel from an already-cycled tank and stuff some into the filter.
Just trying to get a clear idea of what I need to do and what to pick up whenever I make it to the pet store, either today or tomorrow. I don't want to get there and have no clue what I'm talking about! Wish I could borrow one of you guys in person lol.
MonsterMinis, you mentioned water changes being all I'd need to do essentially. What are your thoughts on getting used gravel and using Zeolite, like Jrthor suggests?
Just trying to get a clear idea of what I need to do and what to pick up whenever I make it to the pet store, either today or tomorrow. I don't want to get there and have no clue what I'm talking about! Wish I could borrow one of you guys in person lol.
MonsterMinis, you mentioned water changes being all I'd need to do essentially. What are your thoughts on getting used gravel and using Zeolite, like Jrthor suggests?
I also think water changes is all you REALLY need to do. The other stuff, while helpful, can be superfluous if you're doing daily changes.
I only brought up the zeolite as someone on the previous page had mentioned something along the lines of "some white stuff instead of charcoal".
The gravel idea is only to help with bio filtration until your true filtration gets up to speed.
EDIT: I should have googled BioMax from the start. It's just ceramic rings, right? the Zeolite I'm talking about is totally unrelated... My fault for not checking first.
BioMax should be your biological filter medium. Charcoal and/or Zeolite are chemical filtration media. I'm sorry I fogged up such a simple train of thought.
I only brought up the zeolite as someone on the previous page had mentioned something along the lines of "some white stuff instead of charcoal".
The gravel idea is only to help with bio filtration until your true filtration gets up to speed.
EDIT: I should have googled BioMax from the start. It's just ceramic rings, right? the Zeolite I'm talking about is totally unrelated... My fault for not checking first.
BioMax should be your biological filter medium. Charcoal and/or Zeolite are chemical filtration media. I'm sorry I fogged up such a simple train of thought.
